A private branch exchange (PBX) typically has features like “place a second call”, “transfer” or “conference” that are initiated by a user when they press one or more buttons on their phone. For instance, the user can press *55 (DTMF signaling) on their phone (e.g., regular phone) to have the PBX initiate a “transfer”. Or, the user can use their phone (e.g., high-end phone) and press a hard (or programmable soft) button which is specifically associated with a particular feature like “transfer” and have this operation performed by the PBX. In the last case, the user can press the hard (or programmable soft) button on their phone (e.g., high-end phone) and does not need to remember the specific DTMF number (feature code) to have the PBX initiate the “transfer” feature.
This set-up works relatively well in most situations except for when the user calls an interactive voice recognition (IVR) system (for example) like one which can be used by a bank that typically asks the user to press one or more buttons on their phone in response to a question like do you speak Spanish or please enter your bank account number. Since, the PBX is typically listening for feature codes via DTMF signals it interprets these DTMF signals (pressed buttons) to be for the PBX's own use and as a result will not transfer the DTMF signals to the IVR system. This is not desirable because the person will not be able to communicate with and/or retrieve the desired information from the IVR system.
In an attempt to address this problem, the PBX has been programmed such that it can enable an “outbound DTMF feature”. In this case, if the user pressed *22 (for example) on their phone or if they pressed a specific hard (or programmable soft) button on their phone or if they performed a “hook flash” (briefly hang-up the phone) then the PBX would enable the “outbound DTMF feature” which would allow subsequent DTMF signals to pass to the remote IVR system (or other type of DTMF communication system like a conference/collaboration bridge or a voice mail system). However, this solution is awkward since the person may not realize that they need to enable the “outbound DTMF feature” in the first place or they may have difficulty recalling the particular DTMF signaling or the “hook flash” operation that they need to perform to enable the “outbound DTMF feature”.
One attempt to address this particular problem involved programming the PBX such that the “outbound DTMF feature” was always enabled. However, this default setting of the PBX was not desirable because the person could no longer use keypad presses or DTMF signaling to control the PBX. Accordingly, there is still a need to solve the problem associated with properly enabling the PBX's “outbound DTMF feature”. This need and other needs are satisfied by the voice communication controller (e.g., PBX), the method and the presence system of the present invention.